Farming For The Future
Part two of a three-part exploratory feature on agriculture in Newfoundland and Labrador. In part one we delved into the lives of local farmers, from a retired man whoâs seen the highs and lows, to a first generation farmer just getting her business up and running.This time, we discuss what the provincial government is doing to improve food security and increase agricultural activity in Newfoundland and Labrador. To get the bigger picture, weâve talked to the Hon. Gerry Byrne, Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources; Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo, director of the Labrador Institute at Memorial University; and representatives of the College of the North Atlantic on their new Agriculture Technician Co-op program set to start this month.Moving It ForwardIn 2018, the Ball government made the lofty goal to double food production in Newfoundland and Labrador by 2022. Itâs all a part of their Way Forward, a strategic plan of improving the province on an economic and social level. At the moment, we import 90 per cent of the food we consume. We put the question of how to change that to Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Gerry Byrne.The first thing to address, the minister says, is land. âFarming is a land-based activity; itâs dependent on land and itâs dependent on access to good land, good arable land.âSo the government identified 62,000 hectares (thatâs almost 150,000 acres) of good land suitable for farming and streamlined the land leasing process, he explains. Good farming land is now protected from being scooped up for something like suburban sprawl. When future farmers come forward, either to start a new farm or expand an existing one, theyâll already know what land is available.Government is also bringing back cold storage facilities throughout the province, so farmers can store their produce and sell locally grown food year-round.With the vast majority of food eaten here being grown elsewhere and shipped in, the province is a long way from food security. âThereâs no doubt that weâve got a job ahead of us, but itâs an important job and itâs one that we can succeed in accomplishing,â Minister Byrne says. He notes that in 1949, the year Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada, we were almost completely self-sufficient when it came to food production and we had close to 4,000 active farms. Weâre a far cry from that today. In fact, a Statistics Canada report reveals that between 2011-2016, NL dropped from having 510 farms to just 407.âItâs very startling, itâs very telling⦠And if thatâs not a call to action, I canât think of what would be any greater motivation than to try to reverse the tide of that. And thatâs why our government established our agriculture sector plan, where we took agriculture seriously.âClass is in SessionOne of the reasons there was such a rapid decline in farmers in the recent past was the absence of post-secondary training programs for agriculture right here in the province, Byrne explains. As of 2018, this was the only province or territory in Canada without any formal post-secondary agriculture training program.âFarming is not what it used to be; itâs a highly technical, scientific profession. With advances in soil science, advances in agricultural engineering, advances in better understandingof farming economics, farming is becoming a very, very technical profession, and I could say almost a lab coat profession, in some respects,â Byrne notes. âWhite lab coats are as much a part of farming today as would be a green thumb.â So this September, when students return to school at the College of the North Atlantic Corner Brook campus, 16 of them will make up the inaugural class for the Agriculture Technician Co-Op Program. The program was some time in development, including consultation with industry stakeholders in the agriculture sector who all helped design a curriculum. âThe aim, of course, is to produce a program that reflects what we are being told people need in order to have skill sets to serve them as people who are engaged in farming enterprises in the province,â says Brent Howell, dean of engineering technology and indus-trial trades at the College of the North Atlantic (CNA).âItâs a pretty broad scope of courses in the program,â says instructor Sharon Wright. Over two years, students will cover topics such as soil as well as computers, field safety and how to manage a farm, including bookkeeping. Itâs not just teaching students how to run a farm, but also how to operate their businesses successfully.Newfoundland and Labrador was in need of its own agricultural program. There were people who were interested in farming but didnât want to leave the province for further education or just couldnât afford the move (the closest program was in Truro, Nova Scotia, run by Dalhousie University).âSo this is an opportunity for them to be able to get the education here in their own province. The other thing is the courses that weâre developing; weâre developing them with an eye to Newfoundland and Labrador in particular,â she says. Our vegetable and fruit production, as well as certain aspects of the NL growing season and climate, are unique to the province, so the CNA courses are geared towards farming right here.âFrom our perspective, you know, we see this as a positive step towards at least providing an opportunity for people who might want to be in the business of farming or working for an existing enterprise,â Howell says.This co-op program is also a valuable contributor to the Way Forwardâs goal to double food production in the next few years, as it will definitely help to have more farmers trained to work in this province. Farming Up NorthIn June, Memorial University announced a brand new initiative for the Labrador Institute: the purchase of the Grand River Farm (aka the Pye Farm) in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and the creation of the Pye Centre for Northern Boreal Food Systems. It was a move two years in the making, says Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo, director of the Labrador Institute.While the university is the owner of the farm, âweâre looking at ourselves in partnership with community. And so this whole property is looking to continue the community legacy that Frank and Joyce Pye really started, where we can work together to create great science thatâs useable and timely,â Dr. Cunsolo says, âbut also where we continue to bring people together around food and around growing their own food and being on the land.âIn that two-year period, they heard that farming in Labrador is just one part of the food system. People are still actively engaged in hunting, harvesting, fishing, and foraging for wild foods and berries. âThose pieces connect to agriculture, so people might use fish bones in their garden or harvest kelp from the land and put that in soil. So for the way people are connected to the land in Labrador, itâs all part of a food system,â she explains. Thatâs all interconnected with peopleâs culture and families, as well as their physical and mental health.Labradorâs circumstances also pose some unique challenges, Dr. Cunsolo notes. Itâs a colder climate and requires different farming strategies. They also have really long growing days but a short season. There are certain crops that thrive here, and there are plenty of local farmers whoâve already skillfully developed strong farms.The Pye Centre for Northern Bor-eal Food Systems will be used for scientific research and education, Dr. Cunsolo explains, which sheâs excited about. It will also be a âfarmer-led, citizen science approach.â Research outreach will be a major component, so when they learn something new, theyâll do their best to share it and incorporate it into local farming to improve production.âAnd then the other part is around a social enterprise, so we really want to make sure that this farm stays as a central core to the community,â Dr. Cunsolo says. âAnd so we want to make sure thereâs opportunities for people to come and grow in a community garden setting.â While the Pye Farm was recently acquired, the Labrador Institute is wasting no time: âThis summer weâre really hitting the ground running.â Theyâre getting the farmland back into shape and doing intensive mapping of the land, including using GPS and 3D imagery of the soil. Once thatâs done, they can section off plots and determine where the community plots and experimental plots will be. The fall and winter will be spent mapping those places out and, hopefully, by next summer, theyâll start a full growing season.Food security is a major issue in Labrador, Dr. Cunsolo points out. While Labrador is attached to the mainland, the communities are quite remote and itâs expensive to import food even over the highway. Itâs worse again for residents on the north coast where there are no roads and people rely on ferry services in the summer. In winter, people drive snowmobiles into communities or fly food in, which is very expensive.So the high cost of food means people are very food insecure, especially along the coastal and northerncommunities, she says. Part of the Pye Farmâs goal will be to look at ways a social enterprise can grow food in Labrador thatâs then shipped to the north coast.They also have community freezers that they can help fill with different produce. âWeâre always looking for ways to support community and support food security,â she says.Farming for Food SecurityThe plan to double food production by 2022 might be very ambitious, but Newfoundland and Labrador is on its way there. Through identifying and protecting good agricultural land and creating new educational opportunities, it all adds up.The new agriculture co-op program at CNA will hopefully pave an easier path for more people to become farmers. âAnd obviously, the overall objective [of The] Way Forward is certainly to⦠increase food production and reduce the reliance on our external procurement of food,â Brent Howell concludes.Thereâs also been a real shift in our attitude when it comes to food, with more people wanting local options, instructor Sharon Wright observes. She runs a farm in western Newfoundland with her husband, and theyâve seen more and more people coming by looking for locally grown produce. âThatâs been a trend that weâve seen over the last number of years,â she says.People are looking at the freshness aspect when they look for food. For instance, next time youâre at a supermarket, look for the harvest date on fresh produce. Wright did this at a grocery store and found a head of lettuce had been plucked in California 26 days before she held it in her hands.âPeople are realizing now that if you can buy fresh food, it lasts longer, it tastes better, itâs crispy,â she says.Minister Byrne agrees that by growing our own food, we ensure we get the best food for our tables. As food ages, its nutritional value also goes down, he explains. The health-iest food is fresh food, somethingwe canât get if itâs trucked across the country and then loaded onto a boat.Food security encompasses so many issues, and they include employment and economics. More people growing food means there are more jobs, which in turn also supports rural development and rural communities.Itâs essential to the wellbeing of each and every one of us. If there ever was a situation where the mainland was having trouble feeding their own, âthen we would be the very last to be served, and thatâs what food self-sufficiency is all about. If commodities become scarce, choices are made by those who own the commodities,â Byrne cautions.âAnd we may not be in their first line of priorities. And thatâs not a situation, I donât think, any of uscontemplate ever happening on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. But believe you me, it can happen. And we in Newfoundland and Labrador know that it can happen because weâve already seen that it happens.â
